Week 5 of the 2024 CFL regular season is officially in the books, bringing substantial changes to our power rankings.
The Blue Bombers rocketed out of the basement following their first win of the season, Ottawa sagged after an injury to their quarterback, Saskatchewan broke into the top three, the league’s two Alberta-based teams stood firm, and the Tiger-Cats fell to the basement following an embarrassing home loss to the Lions.
3DownNation’s power rankings are created by having twelve contributors rank each team from No. 1 to No. 9 independently, then averaging out the scores. The previous week’s rankings are in brackets. As always, please be sure to check back every Monday morning for our updated power rankings following each week of action in the CFL.
Enjoy the rankings and feel free to roast us on Twitter — yes, we still call it “Twitter” — for anything you think we got wrong.
Photo courtesy: Montreal Alouettes
1) Montreal Alouettes (1)
The Alouettes looked mortal for the first time in eight months during the first half against Calgary but put up 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter for a comeback victory. Cody Fajardo threw for 374 yards in another strong outing and Tyson Philpot caught 12 passes for 134 yards but it was running back Walter Fletcher who stole the show, recording 160 yards from scrimmage and the deciding score. It’s not all good news in La Belle Province, however, as Shawn Lemon’s suspension was reinstated and all-star safety Marc-Antoine Dequoy left early with a shoulder injury.
Photo: Steven Chang/B.C. Lions
2) B.C. Lions (2)
Jordan Maksymic’s offence was unstoppable during the first half of Sunday’s game at Tim Hortons Field as Vernon Adams Jr. threw for over 300 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Justin McInnis, one to William Stanback, and one to Alexander Hollins. The Lions have now won four consecutive games, three of which came against playoff teams from a season ago, and have a chance to reach first place in the West Division when they host the undefeated Saskatchewan Roughriders this week.
Photo courtesy: Saskatchewan Roughriders
3) Saskatchewan Roughriders (4)
Corey Mace outdueled his former boss and mentor Ryan Dinwiddie on Thursday night, calling a defence that forced five turnovers to stay undefeated and move into the top three of our rankings. Backup QB Shea Patterson was solid with 192 yards and a touchdown in his first start, adding another major on the ground, but it was the secondary that stole the show as Deontai Williams had a pick, Rolan Milligan Jr. poached two, and Marcus Sayles ran another back for a TD. The undefeated Riders are flying high but fans don’t seem to be responding yet, as the matchup featured the lowest attendance in stadium history.
Photo courtesy: Electric Umbrella/Liam Richards/Saskatchewan Roughriders
4) Toronto Argonauts (3)
The shine has officially faded from the Argonauts’ helm as quarterback Cameron Dukes tossed four interceptions in his worst outing as a starter in Regina and Ka’Deem Carey was held to just 39 yards on 11 carries. Janarion Grant provided a bright spot with his first touchdown in Double Blue but it appears that the Boatmen are yearning for the return of suspended M.O.P Chad Kelly, who Toronto has committed to starting if and when he is reinstated by the league.
Photo: Larry MacDougal/3DownNation. All rights reserved.
5) Calgary Stampeders (5)
The Stampeders had the reigning Grey Cup champions on the ropes before a second-half collapse, though their early success was more opportunistic than dominant. It’s never a good sign when your short-yardage QB is your best player, as Tommy Stevens rushed for 49 yards and two majors while hitting a 24-yard pass. Starter Jake Maier had a poor outing, throwing for just 106 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Calgary will need better pivot play if they want to be considered a contender going forward.
Photo: Neil Noonan/3DownNation. All rights reserved.
6) Winnipeg Blue Bombers (9)
The Blue Bombers went back to their bread and butter to secure their first victory of the season and get out of the power rankings basement, giving bruising Canadian running back Brady Oliveira 28 touches for 166 yards from scrimmage. With Zach Collaros held out for precautionary reasons, backup quarterback Chris Streveler had a heyday along the ground with 79 yards and a touchdown plus another 127 through the air. The challenge will be keeping that winning formula once the team’s star passer gets back to full health.
Photo courtesy: Edmonton Elks
7) Edmonton Elks (7)
Chris Jones has survived his team’s first bye week despite an 0-4 start to the season, with team management kicking major decisions down the road until a new owner can be found. Three straight losses by a field goal have proven the roster is close to an on-field breakthrough, which is why the week off was punctuated by the addition of some big-name reinforcements as strong-side linebacker Derrick Moncrief and defensive tackle Shawn Oakman found their way to Edmonton.
Photo courtesy: Scott Grant/CFLPhotoArchive.com
8) Ottawa Redblacks (6)
The Redblacks got run all over in their loss to Winnipeg but the biggest concern is the health of starting quarterback Dru Brown, who left the game before halftime after sustaining a head injury on a late hit. Dustin Crum recorded 102 passing yards, one interception, and 55 rushing yards in his absence, while the team leaned on running back Ryquell Armstead, who recorded both his first career touchdown and 100-yard game. There could be even more running in the weeks to come if Brown misses any length of time.
Photo: Steven Chang/B.C. Lions
9) Hamilton Tiger-Cats (8)
Hamilton’s performance against B.C. on Sunday night can be summed up in three words: stink, stank, stunk. The team had no answers for the Lions’ high-powered offensive attack, which put up 44 points despite taking their foot off the gas for most of the second half. Now in the basement of our rankings, it seems firing special teams coordinator Paul Boudreau wasn’t the spark the Tiger-Cats needed to get their first win of the season. The team won’t get it this week, either, as the club heads into its first bye of the campaign.
[metabet_core_side_odds_tile query=”fbb/cfl_winner” size=”100%x400″ site_id=”3downnation”]
